chapter 5

‘Hey clover!! Stop running!’ yelled Alex, frantically chasing after Clover’s shadow.

Clover just ran to where there were openings for her legs to go. Tears clouded her eyes and she couldn’t see where she was going anymore. She stopped and wiped her face which was already drenched with tears. She walked forward slowly, continued wiping the tears with her sleeves. Her steps became softer and silent. She looked down and sighed a breath of relief. She was at a deserted park where the grass grew wild and tall. She spotted a stone chair and sat on it.

‘Why is it so hard to let him go? He left the moment my mother talked to him. Why couldn’t he have taken me too? We could’ve run away together,’ Clover said to herself with a breaking voice.

Alex ran as fast as he could after Clover.

‘Damn that girl is fast! Is that even possible?’ thought Alex to himself. Finally he came to a halt, not because he found her, the abandon park was his old playing place. He walked silently and halt as he heard a distant sniffle. He spread his legs as far as he could and stepped as gently as he could towards the sound.

After three steps he saw Clover on the stone chair crying and mumbling softly to herself. Surprisingly he caught every word and walked away the same way he walked in earlier.

‘So he’s the cause of her crying. I won’t allow her to cry for anyone else but me,’ Alex though angrily to himself. He broke into a run and ran back to the college.

‘Hey there you are! Where did you go? Did you find that leaf chick?’ asked Adrian.

‘What? No I didn’t.. Hey what leaf chick!!?’ said Alex trying to catch his breath, trying to hit Adrian for those last words.

‘Aww don’t get pissed now or else leaf chick won’t like you,’ laughed Jimmy. Alex was too tired to attack back. When he was about to say something the bell rang.

‘it must be the first time you couldn’t catch anyone little master,’ said Adrian sarcastically.

‘no no its young master my dear Adrian,’ added Jimmy.

‘If I weren’t so out of breath I would’ve killed you both by now,’ replied Alex with his usual dark eyes glinting dangerously.

‘Ooh! Ickle young master is getting angry..’ mocked Adrian.

‘What shall we do?’ asked Jimmy with an air of excitement.

‘I know lets run for it!’ laughed Adrian.

‘See ya!!’ said Jimmy, running together with Adrian to their next class.

‘Those morons. I’ll kill them later,’ said Alex under his breath.

In the classroom, the teacher had already started the class.

‘So what are you gonna do bout all this?’ asked Adrian unexpected.

‘It has already been done. I have people investigating her as we speak,’ replied Jimmy.

Adrian chuckled and said ‘so you do have use for all that money’.

‘It’s called networking and yea maybe extra cash here and there,’ said Jimmy, looking at the white board it was gradually filled with notes written by the lecturer.

‘So why are we doing this again?’ asked Jimmy.

‘What are you asking me for? You were the one thought that Clover was interesting’ Adrian asked back, a bit amused.

‘You like her, don’t you,’ asked Jimmy, smiling widely while tilting his head to the right to face Adrian.

‘I just think she is interesting, that’s all,’ said Adrian with a little force.

‘Now you’re getting defensive. I sense a love triangle starting between you guys,’ chuckled Jimmy.

‘As if you are not interested too! You’re the one who took the initiative to get more information about her,’ said Adrian, a little bit too loud. They both turned to the front and then to each other again after making sure the lecturer didn’t notice them.

‘Says the one who asked around for her name a few days ago,’ said Jimmy.

Adrian let out a sigh and asked ‘how much do you think Alex is serious about Clover?’. Jimmy let his head roll around his neck as it cracks and loosens.

‘Well?’ asked Adrian again.

Jimmy laughed and said ‘gosh you really are interested in her!!’.

‘Hey, I’m being serious’ said Adrian, leaning and setting his head on the table.

‘We already know each other for more than a year so you should know the answer to that by now’, replied Jimmy after a while.

‘Maybe the real reason you are asking me is because you are afraid of admitting the answer you already know as a fact,’ said Jimmy again.

‘She’s one of a kind, that girl’, said Adrian with a sad expression.

‘It’s so rare to find a girl who carries so much pain in her eyes and still go on like she never gone through any of it,’ said Adrian again.

‘How did you find out that Alex likes her anyways?’ asked Jimmy.

‘Maybe it’s cause he spent the whole morning asking us if we noticed where she stayed or how she goes to college or even if we had her hand phone number,’ answered Adrian, amused at his friend’s actions.

‘Yea. He’s always so reserved and secretive about everything but he totally lost his cool in his tone when he asked us those questions,’ said Jimmy, taking out his wallet and looked around the classroom.

The lecturer walked out of the classroom. ‘so who do you think will win the girl? Me or him?’ asked Adrian, looking at Jimmy with a serious glare.

Jimmy looked at Adrian and laughed loudly. The whole class turned to look at them. Adrian turned away quickly, he felt his cheeks burned. A girl walked up to Jimmy and sat on his table.

‘So what would it take for you to go out on a date with me?’ asked the girl. She had long blonde hair flowing to her waist that suits her clear blue eyes. She had a strawberry shaped face, tall nose and small red lips. If she were to stand next to Lily, she might be able to compare with her in beauty.

‘Simple. Today’s notes and an answer to a question. Why do you choose to approach me now?’ said Jimmy with a superior voice. Adrian looked at the girl then at Jimmy.

‘It’s because I heard you like that Lily girl. I'm confident that I can match her in every way,’ answered the girl with the same air of superiority.

Jimmy grinned and held out his hands. The girl hesitated and held out her hands to place on his.

Jimmy pulled back his hands immediately before the girl touched his and said ‘I was talking about the notes’.

‘Owh. Excuse me then’, answered the girl, walking away to another person’s desk. She smiled and flirted with the guy at the desk then came back with papers in her hands. She handed it to him then walked away gracefully, swaying her hips.

‘Ah she even wrote her name and phone number on it’, said Jimmy.

‘Whoa? Must be nice being you. Get me a copy of those too and another for Alex’, said Adrian heavily at those last words.

‘And here I thought I was gonna pay some nerd to give me his notes. By the way, regarding the question you asked me earlier,’ said Jimmy, keeping his wallet and then facing Adrian.

‘Don’t you see me as a treat to both of you too? You forget that I have more charm than the both of you put together,’ said Jimmy again, proudly. This time Adrian laughed loudly.

‘You are good looking, yes I admit it with much regret but Alex is extremely handsome to some girls who appreciate his dark features and complex personality. I do noticed that though girls are afraid to approach him, they still fall head over heels for him after they get to him’, said Adrian after he recovered.

‘What? Why don’t I know about this??’ asked Jimmy, astonishment written all over his handsome face.

‘That’s only because you are always busy with your ‘work’ and girls. You never spent time really getting to know me let alone Alex’, replied Adrian, a little light hearted.

‘It’s funny now that you think about it,’ said Adrian again.

‘Do I look like I’m laughing? I’m bloody pissed that that ‘thing’ could get so much attention!’ said Jimmy obviously irritated that he only realized that Alex is actually a major competition in his field of expertise(girls).

‘What I meant by funny is that girls rather choose to go out with him instead of me and that even though he’s scary they still want to go out with him! It’s funny don’t you think?’ said Adrian, his voice shaking a bit.

Jimmy looked at Adrian as he said that. He never saw Adrian looking so hurt before. The only expression he ever saw was the happy-go-lucky face that Adrian wears all the time. Now it only occurred to him that it might just be a mask.

‘What pisses me off the most is when the girls want to confess to Alex, they always go through me by love letters,’ continued Adrian.

‘Then even after I told them Alex’s answer, they would cry and sob as though Alex directly rejected them. But when I told one of them that I have feelings for her, she rejected me and even scolded me for telling her that because it was right after she just got rejected and was depressed. She mistook my intentions for wanting her to accept my feelings at her state of sadness and confusion’, said Adrian again.

‘Why would…,’ Adrian began.

‘Okay stop this! So Alex is a jerk. You want revenge, right?’ asked Jimmy sympathetically.

‘No, I don’t. You know I don’t. The only reason why you said that was just to comfort me,’ replied Adrian, the same sad expression on his face.

Adrian looked at Jimmy for a moment and said ‘or maybe you want to..’.

‘No I just wanted to comfort you alright! Don’t go thinking any more nonsense other than that!’ snapped Jimmy. Adrian chuckled lightly.

‘Then why do you still hang out with Alex?’ asked Jimmy after a pause.

‘It’s because though he gets so much attention, he never did once felt proud or happy about it. In fact he scolds me for even talking to the girls who approached me. He acts like he doesn’t care who he hurts but actually he blames himself for everything that he put them through,’ replied Adrian.

‘Seems like you know him pretty well. I didn’t know this side of his personality,’ said Jimmy, surprised at this new information.

‘Yea. He tries hard to hide it with his poker face but I have a feeling he’ll have to break his shell soon if he wants her as badly as I do,’ said Adrian, sitting up as the teacher walks into the classroom again.

Jimmy laughed softly at what Adrian said. ‘We shall see who wants the girl more in the end my friends’ thought Jimmy.

In the infirmary, Alex was sleeping on one of the beds. ‘Mr. Zoru, don’t you have classes now?’ asked a shy nurse.

‘Leave me alone!’ shouted Alex. The nurse jumped and ran out as fast as she could.

‘That girl out run me!! I won’t accept this! Wait till I get my hands on her and we’ll have a rematch!!’ Alex thought angrily. He took out his hand phone and starting searching for a number.

‘Hello? So do you have what I wanted? Ok please send to this address at four o’clock later’, said Alex to the person on the other line. He disconnected his phone and turned to his left.

‘I wonder if you’re still there?’ asked Alex under his breath.

‘Never mind, later she’ll get a surprise,’ thought Alex, smiling as he closed his eyes and continued his sleep.